The
only film directed by cinematographer Adam Holender.
The under-the-radar suspense tale about a
"killer-kid" was shot in Danbury Connecticut, and not
released until seven years later. It's based on the
play Children! Children! by Jack
Horrigan. Writers Glenn Kershaw
and Bruce Graham only flub with an absurd
ending. Otherwise it's a viable twisted character
study of a violently disturbed kid.

Teenager
Mark Collins (Christian Slater)
might be a child prodigy, but he's also evil. He
torments his younger sister (Brooke Tracy)
and makes her take drugs. He also cruelly dissects
animals. If that wasn't enough, the kid also kills
people. The little monster pushed his maid down the
stairs, giving her a broken neck.

Mark
has talked his jerky parents (Tandy
Cronyn & Dan
Ziskie) into letting him have
a secret sound system, where he can hear conversations
in every room. When Helen (Lois Smith) is his new
baby-sitter, replacing the maid, he torments her with
swords and by playing Hitler speeches. After he tosses
her kitten into the fireplace, Helen realizes she must
battle the kid to survive the night.